Road to Dawn
by Fayah
Summary: What if Ven recovered from being frozen faster than expected? Things don't work out quite as well as Xehanort expected, and Aqua prays that friendship will be enough to pull them through the enclosing darkness. AU of BBS ending
1. Chapter 1

"Ven! Are you alright?" Aqua asked in between her quick pants. Obviously Ven, encased in a thin layer of ice, made no reply. The situation was grim - Ven was frozen, Terra had fallen down from a pretty far height, and she had taken damage herself from the storm of keyblades that had left a few dents in her armor. But she and Ven were alive at least, and through her heart she had a feeling that Terra was still hanging on.

"A...qua..." Ven mumbled, giving a sign that the thawing had already began. He tried to stretch his muscles which were aching from the cold, but the sensation of stinging needles signaled that he was indeed getting back motor control. Perhaps those hours developing his ice resistance proved useful afterall.

Aqua almost didn't hear the weak whisper while she looked in horror at the blue heart-shaped moon that appeared in the sky at Xehanort's summoning. Her attention was immediately redirected to the boy in her hands. "Ven! You're alright! I'm so glad..." Aqua released the breath she had held since who knows when and let the smallest of smiles creep up her lips.

But her happiness was short lived and she returned to high alert when she heard an unfamiliar voice from behind.

"How 'bout you leave the popsicle with me, so you can go have your little fight with Terra?"

A man with a ragged red scarf and a scar on his face looked thoughtfully at the ledge where Master Xehanort was probably at. "You can't be too happy 'bout him deep-sixing your master," Braig shifted his gaze onto Aqua and chuckled.

"Who are you?" Aqua asked, eyes narrowing.

"You two think you two got some grand role to play. As if!" The sharpshooter gave a condescending smirk and waved a hand in the air frivolously. "You two are only here so that when I finish you off, Terra will succumb to the darkness. So...who wants to go first?"

"Shut up!" Ventus leaned upright, his anger fueling his struggle against the ice. He wanted to do nothing more than launch a megaflare to that bastard's face, but he couldn't feel his legs and he was already quite tired from his struggle with the ice. Terra was his best friend, his older brother, the one who had turned a keyblade against Master Eraqus just to protect him. He knew there was good inside Terra, which was all the more reason to find his friend before his former master tried to crush it.

Braig mockingly put his arms up in the air like a caught criminal. "Oh, so this kiddo thinks he's a full fledged Keyblade wielder? He's got the angry look down." The man smirked, knowing that his taunts were working. It wasn't as obvious on the girl's face, but he could feel that she was absolutely boiling with rage within.

Aqua caught Ventus as the boy started to collapse backwards. She carefully took the boy to a far away rock, safe from the battle that would ensue. "Go ahead if you want to waste your time. Keep trying to drive us apart with your mind games. It'll never work!" A burst of blue light in Aqua's hand formed into the shape of her trustworthy keyblade.

"Terra will prove to you that he's stronger!"

* * *

Aqua knew something was up when Braig was still smirking by the end of their match despite his uneven breathing and torn up body.

"Well, he wanted me to buy time - and I say he got it." The man said cryptically, breaking into a run and getting a head start while Aqua hesitated for a split second in shock. He didn't get far though - a gust of wind sent him hurtling back towards Aqua.

"Oh no you don't!"

Ven stood in front of Braig's escape route, keyblade in hand. Braig had bought time- time for Ventus to free himself of the ice encasing him. Still, the smirk didn't disappear from Braig's face. His gaze traveled upwards and the two keyblade wielders looked up curiously.

"Well, look who's here!"

"Aqua!"

In a split second, Vanitas's keyblade lunged down at Aqua. It was met by the metal of Ventus's keyblade instead of the metal of Aqua's armor, but Vanitas didn't seem disappointed at the least. Aqua, pushed to the side, noted that Braig had escaped, but there were more pressing concerns. She followed up Ventus's block with a swipe to Vanitas's legs.

The agile masked boy easily back-flipped away from Aqua's attack. He landed a few feet away, keyblade posed to attack.

"Come, show me your power Ventus!"

Ventus glared, knowing what the clash would mean. Aqua did not. And if she did...well, Aqua may have never agreed to what he was about to suggest.

"Aqua, go find Terra!" Ventus pleaded, giving his friend a quick assuring look. "I can handle him!"

Aqua didn't doubt it, Ven seemed to have grown during his travels, but she couldn't help but feel a dark dread at the thought of leaving Ventus alone with the masked boy. Still, Terra was out dealing with an even worse enemy at a much more unstable state of mind.

"Be careful Ven," Aqua replied, concern evident in her voice. She summoned her keyblade glider and took off towards the top of the cliff.

* * *

"Savor that rage and despair. Let it empower you!"

"You will pay Xehanort!" Terra clutched a fist towards his chest. Flashes of the scene at his home world sprung up to his mind, the grief and despair once again fresh in his mind. "Was my master -no, my father - Eraqus not enough for you? Leave my friends alone!"

He could feel the darkness surround him, cloud him in rage. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was not right. But his anger, his rage, they could not be ignored. And if they helped him defeat Xehanort and protect his friends, he would use it at any cost.

Xehanort grinned. When pushed into a corner, Terra had always displayed his darkness and now was no different. "Yes boy, that's it! More! Make your whole heart blacken with anger!"

"No Terra!"

Aqua jumped off her keyblade glider which reverted back to a keyblade in a split second. She swung her blade down on Xehanort but her voice gave her away and Xehanort easily met her blade with his. He frowned - the girl should not be here. Had Braig fail his job? Had he underestimated the girl?

"Aqua!" Terra called out, the darkness slowly dissipating. "Where's Ven?

Aqua pushed Xehanort back, then cartwheeled backwards to gain some distance from her opponent. "Fighting that masked boy," she replied, glancing down towards where Ventus was currently battling. But they had to trust Ventus and focus on the situation at hand.

"Terra, you know you shouldn't use the darkness! You're better than that!" Aqua reminded him, not forgetting the stench of darkness that had surrounded Terra earlier. "Please don't fall Terra, Master Eraqus would not have wanted that. I don't want that."

Terra looked to the ground guiltily. "You're right." He replied, clearing his mind. "Cover my back?"

Aqua smiled and the two bared their keyblades at Xehanort. "Let's do it!"

* * *

Xehanort fell to one knee, clutching to his keyblade for support. Things were not looking well for him, but the bright golden beam of light that appeared from below gave him new hope that perhaps he could salvage this mess after all.

"There! You see?" He asked, grinning maniacally.

Aqua and Terra took a quick glance and was startled by the brightness of the light coming from where Ventus was.

"The Chi-Blade has been forged!"

"Ven!" They shouted in unison. Terra, more knowledgeable about Xehanort's plans on the forging of the X-blade, immediately rushed below while Aqua did what she promised to do - cover his back.

"And now Terra, it is time for the final union!"

Xehanort raised his keyblade to his chest. Aqua didn't know what exactly Xehanort was going to do, but she wasn't going to let it happen. She immediately slashed at Xehanort, landing a hit on his chest and sending him backwards towards the ground..

"Forgetting someone?" She asked, pointing her keyblade at Xehanort's throat.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Whew, wow I wrote that all in one sitting. This is all un-betaed, so sorry if there's any obvious mistakes. Feel free to point them out. I may poke a friend into beta-ing later. Orrrr you could review/message and offer me your services but I'm a bit picky about letting people I don't know beta so please don't be offended if I say no :(

Since there is a lack of BBS long fic to satiate my cravings for Terra/Aqua/Ventus friendship, I am writing this one! Sadly, I am horrible at updating. And I'm a high school senior busy with applying for scholarships, keeping up my grades, etc. so updating schedules will be very iffy. I'll try for once a month though. Hopefully someone will enjoy this fic!

Additionally, I would like to remind everyone that this is a FRIENDSHIP FIC. Which means no real pairings. Just adorable best friends. Reviews are appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2

Terra urged his keyblade glider to go faster. He clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the handles in a vain attempt to quell the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

_'Ven...'_

He could make out Ven's figure stading upright at the bottom of the plateau holding an odd keyblade. However, Vanitas wasn't there and that fed Terra's uneasiness.

"Ven!"

No response. Perhaps he couldn't hear with the distance between them.

Terra jumped off his keyblade glider as soon as he was a few feet away from the ground and immediately set off running towards his friend.

"Ven! Are you alright?"

Terra allowed himself to have a brief moment of hope as Ventus lifted his head, but as soon as he saw those cold yellow eyes in place of Ventus's clear blue eyes, he stopped dead in his tracks. Ventus pointed the X-blade at Terra.

"So sorry, Ventus isn't here anymore. He's where he belongs...together with me!"

Vanitas launched himself at Terra keyblade-first and still managed to push Terra back as Terra summoned his own keyblade to block. In an instant, Vanitas retreated back several steps with speed that the other couldn't hope to match.

"So tell me Terra, can you do it? Can you bear to hurt your friend?" Vanitas asked mockingly. "Oh, but you did kill Eraqus after all."

The darkness seemed so appealing to Terra right now - his anger made it feel especially alluring. He could just grasp it's tendrils and obtain power - power to get back Ven. But...would it really help? Would darkness beat darkness?

_What else is darkness but hate and rage? Xehanort is feeding the dark fires within you, making you fight. You'll go astray again. Tell me, how does that honour our Master's memory, Terra? _

Aqua was right. He couldn't use the darkness. He would find his own way.

* * *

A keyblade to the throat was no easy thing to scoff at, but Xehanort knew Aqua. He knew she was Eraqus's apprentice. He knew that she had never slain a fellow human before. Most importantly, he knew by the slight quiver that ran through her clenched hand that she did not have the resolve to kill. As long as he lived, he would find a way to crawl back to power. She was years too young to stop him.

"It seems that you have me cornered, _master_ Aqua. But do you have the resolve to kill me as I am right now? Defenseless and cornered? Would this please your sense of _honor_?"

Aqua's eyes narrowed and she pushed her keyblade closer to Xehanort's throat. "_You_ have no honor! You tried to take Terra. You killed Master Eraqus. You're responsible for all of this!"

Faint traces of darkness gathered around Aqua as her anger rose, but they disappated as soon as they appeared when Aqua looked straight at Xehanort. "But I'm not like you. I won't use the darkness and I won't kill you. There is always an alternative."

Her keyblade quickly shifted downwards towards Xehanort's heart and shot out a beam of light before the old man had time to react. A glowing ball of light emerged and slowly shifted into the form of a keyblade. It was similar to Vanitas's keyblade, pitch black with edges of red and an eerie yellow eyeball engraved at the top of its handle. The eyeball seemed to glare at Aqua before the keyblade shrunk and turned into a keychain which Aqua pocked. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Xehanort was right in that she really did not have the heart to kill him, but she did know someone who would be able to judge a punishment for the corrupted keyblade master.

"Master Yen Sid will know what to do with you."

* * *

"I wouldn't put it past you to kill your best friend. After all, you did leave him all alone for me while he tried so hard to chase after you."

"Shut up!"

Terra was sick of the fight. Vanitus would constantly taunt him while striking at him from behind and then, much to Terra's frustration, disappearing from Terra's strike range when he attempted a counter attack. The other boy was just much too fast for him. The pain wasn't much of a problem - he had become accustomed to taking blows throughout the course of his journey. It was the taunting that got to him the most.

He did ignore Ven's pleas to come along with him.

He did help strike down his master - even if it was not the killing blow.

And now he had let his friend slip away from him.

* * *

_'Please...put an end to me.'_

* * *

Inside the dreamscape of Ventus's mind, another battle was raging on. Ventus stubbornly locked keyblades with Vanitas. Darkness and light clashed, each one trying to engulf the other.

Ventus knew this was not a match that he could lose. He did not want Vanitas to turn his keyblade on his friends. He would not be able to bear knowing that he was the cause of his friends' deaths.

But Vanitas really wasn't making this match any easier.

"Ugh," Ventus groaned as he blocked a particularly harsh blow with his keyblade and rolled away from a second follow-up attack. With the slight distance he had, he took the time to cast a quick curaga spell before Vanitas launched at Ventus once more.

Ventus locked keyblades with his dark counterpart again and drew into a new reservoir of strength. "Bring it on!"

* * *

Vanitas had disappeared from Terra's visual field again.

_'...Where is he?'_ Terra looked left and right but he had a sinking feeling that Vanitas was about to give him an unpleasant blow to the back again.

The blow never came though.

Terra turned around to see that Aqua had intercepted the blow for him with a barrier attack. She turned around briefly at Terra and smiled. "Missed me?"

Terra returned the smile. "Thanks."

The two broke apart when Vanitas launched another strike in between the two of them. Aqua had already deduced that something was not quite right with her friend. The sickly golden eyes were an especially good hint.

"Ven, snap out of it!" She called to her former friend. Her only reply was a salvo of shots from Vanitas's new keyblade. However, Terra took this opportunity to strike at Vanitas while he was focused on casting his spell. The blond haired boy stumbled but caught himself shortly after and disappeared, probably backing away to gain some distance.

Vanitas knew he could handle Terra. But he wasn't too sure how he would hold against two keyblade wielders at once despite the fact that both were reluctant to do serious harm to their friend. He didn't want to be captured. He didn't want to be locked away like he once was in Ventus's heart.

* * *

Ventus was amazed when he noticed that Vanitas froze up for a short moment. He wouldn't waste this perfect opportunity though. He built up his energy to unleash his ultimate shotlock. In an instant, Vanitas found himself faced against multiple flashing blades and a vortex of sharp wind that he barely managed to escape.

Vanitas's clothes were now slightly torn and he was out of breath for the first time.

'_It's getting too hard to fight all three at once_,' Vanitas realized. He could not effectively divide his attention between the physical and mental planes at the same time.

Vanitas had his pride: he did not want to run away from an unfinished fight. However, maintaining his control over his body was more important.

* * *

Aqua launched large homing fireballs at Vanitas while Terra was charging up his own shotlock. Vanitas looked impassively at the attacks coming at him because at the moment, a large black portal was engulfing his figure.

"I'm afraid I have some unfinished business to take care of. I have no time to play around with a back-up and a failed vessel." The portal caved in on itself right before the attacks hit, but Vanitas's last words managed to make it through to the two keyblade wielders.

"Seeya around...or not."

"Ven!" The two made a useless attempt to chase after the closing portal but, like their attacks, they were just too slow. The portal was gone and the blue light of the heart shaped moon overhead was once again covered by dark clouds.

Terra slammed his fist into the ground where Vanitas had disappeared. "Damn it!" He clenched his teeth and closed in his eyes to try to shut out the frustration he was feeling at the moment. He had turned away the darkness. He had even managed to corner Vanitas with Aqua's help. Yet Vanitas still managed to escape along with Ven's body.

Aqua put a reassuring hand on Terra's shoulder. "We'll get Ven back Terra," She stated with absolute certainty. The blue haired warrior fished her blue goodluck charm out of her belongings and held it in front of Terra. "We have an unbreakable connection, right?"

Incidentally, Terra's charm conveniently fell out of his pocket as he was about to get up. He smiled as he picked up his version of the star shaped charm. "Right. Ven's in there somewhere. We just need to find him."

"Heya guys...sorry to break up the moment, but what happened here?" Mickey had appeared from behind a few rocks weilding his keyblade and a confused look on his face. He motioned to the multiple scorch marks and craters on the ground that were created during the earlier battle.

"Hey Mickey," Aqua greeted warmly. Terra, on the other hand, was not so familiar with the mouse although he did recall seeing a similar mouse - Minnie - in another world.

"It's a long story actually. I think we should go to Master Yen Sid's tower and explain it there so everyone can hear it."

The starpiece in Mickey's pocket began to glow at Aqua's words, almost as if sensing her desire to travel. Mickey pulled it out of his pocket and offered his free hand to Terra and Aqua. "Wanna ride?"

And soon the three were bouncing off towards the Mysterious Tower, leaving a trail of star dust behind.

* * *

"Gah!" Ven cried out as Vanitas struck a harsh blow to his side. After Vanitas's slight moment of distraction, the black haired teen seemed to come back at full strength. It almost seemed as if he were holding back before.

This was Ventus's dreamscape which had been home to Vanitas for years. It was where Vanitas was the strongest. Ventus was just a beginner trying to keep up. He could not deal with Vanitas's full attention.

But he had to try.

And so the battle for control of Ventus's mind and body continued.

* * *

A/N: Wooow, sorry for taking so long to update guys! I'm not even sure if people are too interested in this fic though lol

Not sure what else to say. Thanks to all my reviewers. Please feel free to point out if there are any plot holes or such because I haven't touched my BBS game in a little while. I should probably get a beta or something haha.

So next up, Terra and Aqua visit Yen Sid and Vanitas/Ventus keep on battling. There will be some world-traveling too because it wouldn't be KH without world traveling.

Thanks for reading!


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